<
https://theconversation.com/trump-may-cancel-nasas-powerful-sls-moon-rocket-heres-what-that-would-mean-for-elon-musk-and-the-future-of-space-travel-244762>
"Since Donald Trump’s recent electoral victory, rumours and speculation have
circulated that Nasa’s giant Moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), could
be under threat. The rocket is one of several key elements needed for the US
space agency’s Artemis programme, which aims to return humans to the Moon for
the first time since 1972.
For the first lunar landing mission, called Artemis III, the SLS will launch
four astronauts on Nasa’s Orion crew capsule. Orion will then travel to the
Moon. Once in lunar orbit, Orion will dock with Elon Musk’s Starship vehicle
(which has been launched separately). Two astronauts will float into Starship,
which undocks from Orion and travels down to the lunar surface.
After walking on the Moon, the two astronauts return to lunar orbit in
Starship, which docks with Orion. The two moonwalkers rejoin their crewmates
and go home on Orion, leaving Starship in orbit around the Moon.
The US space journalist Eric Berger recently posted on X: “To be clear we are
far from anything being settled, but based on what I’m hearing it seems at
least 50-50 that Nasa’s Space Launch System rocket will be cancelled.”
No official announcements have been made. However, such a move could be in line
with previous speculation that the Trump administration could gut Nasa, forcing
it to contract out much of its work to the private companies.
But could another rocket easily take the place of the SLS? This question goes
to the heart of what America wants to achieve amid an emerging 21st-century
space race. China has pledged to send its astronauts to the lunar surface by
2030. Unlike the US, China is usually conservative in its estimates, so we can
assume deadline slippage is unlikely. Meanwhile, several elements of Artemis
are holding up the schedule.
One of these delayed elements is Musk’s Starship, which acts as the lander on
Artemis III. It still needs to demonstrate key milestones including refuelling
in space and performing a landing on the Moon without crew. Some in the space
community believe that if China were to get to the Moon first this century, it
would deal a significant blow to US ambitions in space."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
